


It's A Cat Thing

by TheOtherXOPrincess



Series: Special Powers and Other Catastrophies [6]
Category: Glee
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Animal Transformation, Cat Ears, Cat/Human Hybrids, Genetic Engineering, Human Experimentation, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Light Angst, Light Smut, Multi, New York City, Science Experiments, Slow Build, Some Humor, Supervillains, What Was I Thinking?, animal/human hybrids, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29785824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOtherXOPrincess/pseuds/TheOtherXOPrincess
Summary: That’s definitely not how Mercedes pictured the beginning of her college freshman year! Accidently turning to a cat-like heroine after an awkward encounter with a weird-looking cat gone crazy wasn’t part of the plan at all. Why did Kurt convince her to do that again?To make matters worse, other people like her turn up, people that are up to no good. Much to her annoyance, she needs to stop them if she ever wants to have some peace and quiet again. As if it wasn't enough, she notices that she's slowly falling for Sam, a dorky yet cute Medicine Major who under no circumstances may find out about what she is actually doing in her spare time.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Sam Evans/Mercedes Jones, Sam Evans/Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce, past Mercedes Jones/Noah Puckerman
Series: Special Powers and Other Catastrophies [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798681
Kudos: 2





	1. How It All Began...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, turns out that even wildcats have aggression problems.
> 
> "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."
> 
> "Shut up, Vortex, this Mercedes' story, not yours. Besides, you won't even appear in the first chapters anyway."
> 
> "So?"
> 
> "Do you guys even have to fight while breaking the fourth wall? You are all pissing off the readers", Mercedes groaned, annoyed. "You guys need to search for another hobby."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I'm back with another story :)  
> I started writing it a while ago, but I wasn't sure whether I wanted to publish it because I was drunk as hell when I came up with this crazy idea. I was kind of reluctant to upload this because I found it downright crazy.  
> But actually, I like writing this story, no idea, why.  
> As I have said a couple of times before, my head is a scary place. Where all these ideas come from, I will never know.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything but that story.

* * *

**It's A Cat Thing:**

**(=◕ᆽ◕ฺ=)**

PART ONE- _Awakening_

* * *

When Mercedes entered the dorm where she was going to live for the next four years, she couldn’t help but squeal excitedly. This was her first step to freedom. And it was going to be awesome. Finally, _fucking finally_ , she could break free from depressing Ohio and start a new life in New York, the city that never slept, and probably the most exciting city she had ever been to.

In two days, she would start studying at NYU, majoring in Journalism and New Media. Life was great.

Again, Mercedes let out an excited squeal. She looked around in her empty room she was going to share with someone else, hoping that this person was going to be nice. And even though she was aware it was childish, she wished that this someone was going to be female as well.

Back then in high school, she could count the friends she had on one hand. Not that she minded, but she wished that it would be different now that she went to college.

_College._

Wow, that sounded so grown up and serious.

_Awesome._

Whether she and her female roommate would paint each other’s toenails, do slumber parties every weekend, wear matched outfits and become besties? That would be the icing on the cake.

Mercedes giddily unpacked the rest of her boxes, searching for good spots for her photos with her family. Yes, it was true that she didn’t have so many friends as a highschooler, apart from the kids she met at their churches choir, but her family, especially her mom, had been a good substitute. She told her mother practically everything, they were close to best friends.

But only close.

“Mercy, you cannot talk about boys with your mother”, she had told her daughter one day with a wink. “For that, you need someone who’s your age.”

Unfortunately, it was not allowed to hang them on the walls, but she could put them onto her desk. Mercedes sighed. She would miss her family. Lima was not exactly around the corner, but who said that growing up would be easy?

Someone behind her cleared his throat loudly.

Startled, Mercedes turned around and almost dropped the photo in her hands.

A boy around her age was standing behind her, he had blue-grey eyes and brown hair. The box he was holding in his hands was filled with thousands of stylish accessories.

“You have been staring at that photo for almost five minutes”, he commented, slightly amused.

Mercedes grimaced. “It’s the first time I really left my home. I still need to get used to it.”

The boy smiled at her compassionately. “You’re not from New York?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I’m from a lame hicktown called Lima, that’s in Ohio.” Mercedes politely stuck out her hand. “I’m Mercedes. Mercedes Jones.”

Before he shook her hand, the pale boy put down his box. “Kurt”, he introduced himself, smiling at her in a friendly way. “I’m from Chesterfield, Missouri. If you think that Lima is bad, take my hometown and multiply its badness-factor by one million. That’s how Chesterfield is.”

Mercedes needed to laugh. “I don’t think it can be that bad. Being one of the few black families in a town like Lima is tough, believe me, white boy.”

Kurt threw her an unimpressed glance. “So is being gay in a town with people that never have seen a homosexual person in their lives before. At least no one who was out and proud.”

“You’re out and proud in a state like Missouri?” Mercedes gave him two thumbs up. “You just earned my respect.”

Kurt curtsied jokingly, smiling widely.

“Is this your freshman year as well?”, she asked him when she watched him put his accessories into his assigned cupboard.

“Yes and no”, Kurt answered “Actually, I moved to New York one year ago.”

“And what brought you to NYU?”

He shrugged. “I initially enrolled at NYADA, a prestigious college for dramatical arts. But after my freshman year, I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I changed to NYU where I will double major in Fashion Design and Photography.”

“Sounds interesting”, Mercedes said earnestly. “I decided on New Media and Journalism. Let’s see whether I will change my mind after one year as well.”

Kurt laughed. “I think the two of us will get along very well, Mercedes Jones.”, he said with a grin.

“I agree with you”, she answered with a smile on her face as well. Okay, he was no girl, but he seemed to be a nice person.

Whether he was into manicures and slumber parties?

~ ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ ~

Since the cafeteria was not open yet, Mercedes decided to go out for dinner and get to know the city that never slept. After all, she was going to spend a lot of time in New York and maybe work there after she got her degree.

She went to a small pasta restaurant that was not far away from the NYU dormitories where she ate the best truffle pasta ever. Which was of course not cheap at all.

Mercedes sighed when she left the restaurant after she had devoured her food. She would start searching for a job once she had settled in at NYU. Even though her parents were transferring pocket money monthly and also paying the rent for her dorm, she wanted to earn her own salary one day, and she hoped it was going to be soon.

Even though it was only early in September, the evenings were not that warm anymore and it was getting darker earlier than in the summer. Mercedes clutched her coat tighter, slightly freezing because of the cold breeze. She quickened her pace so that she would arrive at her dorm before midnight. Kurt’s dad had picked him up to spend the rest of the day with him before he would return to Lima, so Mercedes had the room all to herself. She could do whatever she wanted to without having to worry about what Kurt might think.

Mercedes looked around in the side street. What was she thinking when she took that shortcut? She didn’t even know that part of New York, or any part. Anxiously, she started running. Turned out that running in high heeled boots was no good idea because she suddenly tripped over something that lied on the dirty ground.

Cursing loudly, Mercedes got up again. She looked down – and was surprised to see a buff wildcat lie on the ground.

This cat’s eyes were aquamarine blue, its white fur had a few black flecks. Mercedes wasn’t even sure whether she could call it cat. Wasn’t there another word for that kind of wild cat?

To be honest, she had never seen a more beautiful, elegant cat before.

For some reason, the cat was staring at her, and Mercedes couldn’t help but stare back because her gaze was kind of mesmerizing. Carefully, she kneeled down and reached out for the cat to touch its soft fur.

And irritatedly backed away when the cat hissed at her and scratched her on the right arm before it fled, faster than a normal cat could possibly move, but Mercedes was so preoccupied with the scratch she didn’t even notice.

“Ouch! What the hell!?”, Mercedes exclaimed, inspecting the scratch which had started bleeding. “I didn’t even do anything to her. Who would have thought that even cats do have aggression problems?”

Shrugging, she turned on her heel and quickly left the side street again. She needed to get home and take care of the scratch, disinfect the wound thoroughly before she could contract an infection or something. Getting sick on her first day in NYC was the last thing she wanted.

When Mercedes got home, she kind of started feeling…weird. For some reason, she started feeling exhausted and tired, as if she had just been hit by a bus or something. But that couldn’t be. She had slept enough, and the activities of that day weren’t exhausting as well.

She slumped down on her bed, yawning and stretching, telling herself that she would only close her eyes for a couple of minutes before she would take care of the scratches. Instead, she immediately fell asleep, feeling as if she was falling into a deep, deep black hole.

~ ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ ~

Blinking, Mercedes reopened her eyes and checked the time on her phone.

It was already eleven am.

What the hell? She must have slept more than twelve hours, more than what was normal.

“Good morning”, a nice voice said, and she rubbed her eyes, slowly sitting up in her bed.

Kurt was already awake, taking care of his skin at his vanity table and winking at her. Whether there was a chance Mercedes could borrow one of his expensive looking lotions one day?

“Good morning”, she answered kind of sleepily, yawning and stretching her arms. Her limbs felt as heavy as lead for some weird reason, as if she had one of her hard workouts the day before.

But why? She didn’t even move that much yesterday.

Maybe a hot bath would help her wake up properly.

So Mercedes got up, grabbed her towel and went to their shared bathroom. She was so grateful there was no common bathroom for all students but one bathroom per dorm. She didn’t know whether she would be able to take it if she needed to share it with a couple of strangers every single day.

After having locked the door, she turned on the faucet and dumped a lot of flower soap into the bathtub as well because that scent kind of reminded her of home. Whether he parents already missed her?

After the bathtub was full of hot water, Mercedes undressed, got in and waited for the good feeling that always came once she took a bath.

It never came.

Instead, she kind of started uneasy and even started shuddering a bit. Quick, Mercedes got out of the bathtub again.

What the hell had gotten into her? Since when didn’t she find baths relaxing anymore? She would find out, but first, she needed to rub herself dry, the wet feeling on her skin didn’t feel nice at all.

Irritated, she put her clothes on again. Whether she was getting sick? That would be a disaster. Her classes would start tomorrow, she needed to be fit as a fiddle. Maybe it would be for the best if she took it slow today, maybe postpone her sightseeing tour. Would be a shame if she missed her very first day of college, right?

When Mercedes was about to unlock the bathroom door again, she suddenly felt a jolting pain curse through her head. She slumped down on the floor and bit back a scream.

What the hell?

Why did she feel like that?

Her breaths quickened; the pain was so strong she felt like passing out any moment.

“Mercedes? Are you okay?”, Kurt asked from outside, he sounded worried.

Even though she had no idea what was happening to her, Mercedes forced herself to answer: “Yes, white boy. Never felt better.”

Actually, she felt like she was on fire.

After what felt like half an eternity, the pain suddenly stopped.

But something about her felt…off. And alien.

Carefully, Mercedes got up again. Maybe, she just sprained a muscle or something. She was just imagining things, and that headache was just because she slept way too long.

One glance in the mirror made her yelp.

Cause she had ears. _Cat_ ears. Pure white ones attached to her head that even twitched whenever she moved them. How she was able to move them, she had no idea.

Her heart almost stopped beating, she was close to passing out.

Was she loosing her mind? Wasn’t she able to take all the stress because of the move from Ohio to New York?

“Mercedes?”, Kurt tried again, and she looked up. She almost forgot about him. Oh god, what would he think if he saw her like that? Send her to the next zoo? She would probably be a great attraction, next to lions and giraffes and…no, she needed to find a way to hide it for now.

So she retrieved her hoodie, put it over her tank top pulled her sleeves over her hands. That should be enough for now, or so she hoped.

Nervously, she unlocked the door of the bathroom again and carefully got out of it.

Kurt was standing in front of the door, eyeing her weird outfit. “It’s 77 degrees, why the hoodie?”

“Oh, I like it warm and cozy”, Mercedes answered evasively, slowly walking past him and putting her PJs and her other clothes into her closet.

He threw her a scrutinizing glance. “Why were you screaming in there? Did you get hurt?”

“Nope, I just popped a giant pimple”, Mercedes lied quickly, making sure that the hoodie covered her entire head.

“Can I have a look at it?”, Kurt asked curiously. “I have a great lotion against acne, I ordered it from Europe not long ago.”

She fervently shook her head. “Well…that’s probably no good idea because…” While she talked, she noticed how Kurt’s eyes widened.

And realized that her hood just fell down and her freaky cat ears were in full display. Even though she couldn’t see it, she could feel how her new ears twitched nervously.

_Goddammit._

That’s definitely not how she pictured her first days in New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's how it all started xD
> 
> Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just posted that O_o
> 
> Kudos or comments are more than welcome! See you next time ;)


	2. #Catgirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What if there is a reason you got those powers? What if that cat chose you of all people?”, Kurt theorized giddily.
> 
> "Puh-lease, white boy", Mercedes answered with a snort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything but that story.

“Did those cat ears just…move?”, Kurt gasped after having stared at Mercedes for half an eternity, speechless.

“I don’t know myself how it’s possible”, she sighed after the initial shock. “I started feeling weird when…” Mercedes flinched once she remembered what had happened the night before. “A weird cat scratched me and …”

Quick, she rolled up the sleeve of her right arm – and gasped for air when she noticed that the scratch had healed fully, there were no traces of the former wound. “What the hell?”

Kurt put his hands on his hips. “So you’re telling me that an enchanted cat scratched you?” Disbelieving, he cocked his eyebrows and looked around. “Where are the cameras? Is this some kind of prank?”

“I wish it was, believe me”, Mercedes answered him back, kind of desperate. “I wish I was still dreaming. But I’m not, sadly.” She ruffled her dark hair desperately, trying to think of something. “What the hell am I going to do now?”

Her desperation was cut off by her rumbling stomach and she frowned.

Kurt needed to smile. “First, we are going to have breakfast, I still didn’t eat anything since I got up. With a full stomach, thinking of a solution gets easier.”

When he was about to walk to the door, Mercedes cleared her throat loudly. “Didn’t you forget how I look, white boy? I can’t leave this room like that.”

“Yes you can” Kurt rushed over to her and helped her put the hood up again. “See, easy-peasy.” He took her by the wrist and dragged her out of the room. “Would be a shame to stay inside all day just because of peanuts.”, he said with a wink.

“Yeah, of course, peanuts”, Mercedes muttered with a scowl while she reluctantly followed him out of the building.

~ (Ф ﻌ Ф) ~

They found a small grocery shop around the corner and since Mercedes was not in the mood for searching for another more spacious shop, they entered, much to Kurt’s disdain.

“You are not the one who is a freak and tries to hide it”, she whispered to him when they put some bagels into their bags. Since she was scared that someone could recognize her, she kept her head down and pulled her hood down.

Kurt laughed. “You are no freak, okay? You are just…special.”

“And what if I don’t want to be special?”, Mercedes hissed, taking a bag of red Skittles. “At least not like that. Fame: yes, please. Extraordinariness: No, thanks.”

They neared the counter were a red headed cashier was sitting, having a loud phone call, reading a magazine and chewing on her bubble gum at the same time.

“Don’t exaggerate”, Kurt whispered back, grabbing a pack of apples on his way. “It’s not as bad as you might think.”

A man who wore dark clothes and a baseball cap that hid his face entered at that moment, walking over to where the cashier was sitting.

“And Marsha, I’m telling you, that bitch honestly had balls”, the cashier just said. “She just splashed her ex’s ex with Tequila and screamed: _‘In your face, biatch!’_ And he was like: _‘Wuut? You wanna mess with me, biatch?’_ ”

Mercedes cocked her eyebrows, exchanging amused glances with Kurt.

Suddenly, the man from before retrieved something from his belt. “Freeze!”, he bellowed to the woman who dropped her phone in shock and widened her eyes. Because the man held a gun in his hands.

“Nobody moves, or I will shoot, I dare you!”, the man threatened, pointing his gun at the other customers as well.

Mercedes and Kurt looked at the criminal in a horrified way.

“Lady”, he yelled at the cashier, who had paled instantly, and handed her his backpack “Put all of the cash into the bag, now!”

Her hands were trembling when she followed orders.

“What are we going to do now?”, Kurt whispered to Mercedes when the criminal turned away shortly. “What if he kills all of us?”

The man turned around jerkily after he had heard him whisper, pointing his gun right to Kurt’s head. “What did you just say, jackass?”

“Nothing, nothing”, Kurt muttered, having paled as well. The man, however, still pointed his gun at Kurt, looking beyond pissed.

“I hate blabbermouths like you that just can’t shut up. Maybe it would be for the best if you shut up forever.” His finger was hovering dangerously close over the trigger.

“Leave him alone”, Mercedes mumbled.

The criminal glared at her. “ _What?”_ , he said in a dangerously calm voice. _“What_ did you just say?”

“I told you to leave him alone”, she repeated, still keeping her head down.

Kurt squeezed her arm anxiously. “Mercedes...”, he said warningly.

The man looked up irritatedly. “That’s it!”

After that instant, everything happened so fast.

He pulled the trigger.

Mercedes pushed Kurt to the side and they both fell to the floor, unhurt. Instead, the bullet hit the pack of spearmint gum behind them.

“What. The. Hell?”, the man yelled, too stunned to even react when the duo got up again.

“How did you just do that?”, Kurt asked her, still shocked about how close he had been to getting shot.

“I have no idea”, Mercedes whispered back.

Don’t ask her later on why she did was she was going to do now. She didn’t know it herself.

Weirdly calm, she turned to the criminal again who was frozen to the spot. “Give me the gun.”, she ordered.

“Do I look like an idiot to you?”, was the snarky answer. Before he could shoot at her again, Mercedes had rushed over to him - faster than she had ever moved before – and snatched the gun out of his hands.

With a grin, she turned to Kurt with the weapon. “Would you be so nice?”, she said before she handed him the gun.

Kurt just stared at her with an open mouth, unable to say anything for a while. Until…”Watch out!”, he shouted.

But actually, that warning hadn’t been necessary. For some reason, Mercedes had seen the punch coming – and ducked down in time.

“Stay still!”, the man whined when he wanted to box her again and failed as she dodged all of his hits elegantly. For some reason, Mercedes felt so flexible and agile, kind of like a…

“Hey!”

The man was suddenly storming out of the shop, and for some inexplainable reason, Mercedes felt the urge to chase him. So she started running as well. And outran the man in no time. Whether he had just been slow, or her adrenaline kick was to blame, she had no idea.

In order to stop him, Mercedes lunged at him with all she had. Even though she was only five foot four and not that strong, other than the man who needed to be as tall as a mountain, she made him fall.

The man’s eyes widened in shock when he looked at her, and too late, Mercedes realized, why.

Her hood had fallen down, and her cat ears were in full display.

_Dammit._

“What are you?”, he asked horrifiedly, that scared man who was now lying on the ground had nothing in common with the threatening one who wanted to rob the shop a couple of minutes ago.

Around her, people started applauding and cheering, but Mercedes still kept her head down. The last thing she wanted was too much attention.

When she heard sirens of a police car, she quickly put her hood on again and withdrew, running across a deserted side street as fast as she could. She needed to hide behind a container until she was sure no one had followed her before she could walk back to the building of her dorm, making a couple of detours.

Finally, she unlocked the door to her room, entered and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

After reopening them, she saw none other than Kurt sit on his chair on her opposite with a stunned face expression.

Great.

Here we go.

“Kurt, I…”

“That. Was. Awesome!”, Kurt exclaimed with sparkling eyes. “How you fought against that bad guy and chased him. After you left, the police arrested him immediately.”

“Kurt…”

He had retrieved his iPad, unlocked it and opened a website. “Do you see that? People are already posting stories about you, and I have already read a short article about what happened in the New York Times.”

Mercedes sighed. “But…”

“Just search for #Catgirl. There are thousands of tweets on Twitter and a lot of people mentioned you on their stories on Instagram as well. You are going to be famous.”

With a defeated groan, Mercedes retrieved her own phone from her pocket. Kurt was right, there were already a lot of posts about her online. And luckily, none of those people seemed to have recognized her because she had kept her head down all the time.

“They wrote that you are the symbol for justice. People think you are a heroine.” Suddenly, Kurt got up from his chair and came closer to her, looking more excited than before for some reason. “What if we just give the people what they ask for? Someone who protects them. A super heroine, like in all those comics and movies.”

Mercedes looked at him – and burst into laughter. “You cannot be serious, right, white boy?”

Kurt looked back with a serious face expression. “But I am. Think about how you could help people with your powers. We have all seen it: You are fast. You are agile and flexible. You can react faster than any human.”

“So?”

“What if there is a reason you got the powers? What if that cat chose _you_ of all people?”, Kurt theorized.

She shook her head, still laughing. “I got those powers because I got scratched by a mad cat, easy as that.” Sighing, she looked down on herself. “Just look at me, white boy. I am no heroine. I am just a college freshman that tries to find her right place in the world and accidently got those freaky powers, nothing more. Let’s don’t misinterpret what happened, okay?”

Kurt still didn’t look convinced. He touched her on both shoulders, looking her deep in the eyes. “Don’t hide your light under a bushel, Mercedes. You can achieve so much more than you think.”

When he said that sentence, she needed to laugh again. “Yeah, of course, Kurt”, she answered sarcastically. “Too bad there’s nothing to hide."


End file.
